Safety device for railways



M. K. HEALY SAFETY DEVICE FOR RAILWAYS Jan. 1925. 1,522,452.

Filed March 11, 1924 a H r &

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A TTORNE YS Patented Jan, 5, 1925 UNITED STATES MICHAEL K. EFJALY, or BROOKLYN, NEW tro -BK.

SAFETY team we Runways.

A'pplfcaticin fired Mach 11, 1924. Serial no. 698,488.

Toillllwiw'm-it may concern 'Be it known that '1, MICHAEL K. lIEALY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of New York, borough of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a 'new and Tin proved Safety Device for Railways, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to improvements in train control systems, and "has particular reference to a system embodying improvements over my former Patent No. 1,477,486, dated December 11th, 19:23.

In the above patent a fan operated by the movement of a locomotive is utilized to maintain open a circuit which, when closed by a decrease in the speed of operation of the fan, due to the slowing down of the locomotive, will energize a contact rail in order to effect the automatic application of brakes on a following locomotive. However, in this patent no provision is made for the contingency which arises should the fan cease operation for any reason and without knowledge on the part of the engineer while the locomotive is traveling at a normal rate of speed. In other words, should the fan cease to operate while the locomotive is running at a normal rate ofspeed the abovemention'ed circuit would be closed and the fOllOWiIlg locomotive would be stopped by an automatic operation of its brakes notwithstanding the fact that there would be no reason for stopping.

The present invention is therefore designed to overcome the above difficulty by providing means for automatically stopping the locomotive should the fan, or other mechanism utilized for the same purpose, cease to operate while the locomotive is running at a normal rate of speed.

Another object is to provide a switching device which may beactuated to open the circuit which, when closed, causes an automatic application of the brakes and through which device an automatic application of the brakes in a following locomotive may be effected should the fan and associated mechanism in the latter locomotive be out of running order.

A further object is to enable the circuit closer, which is ordinarily utilized to close the circuit for energizing the contact rail, to be maintained in its inoperative position when the fan is out of order and the 10- comotive running.

The above and other objects will; appear more clearly from the following detailed description, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, which illustrates a preferred embodiment of the inventive idea.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation, partly in section, of a locomotive showing the invention applied thereto; and

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view of a switching device employed in connection with the invention.

The drawing illustrates conventionally a locomotive 3 of any desired type which travels upon a rail 1 paralleled by a contact rail 5 formed of a plurality of insulated sections of any desired length. The locomotive carries a contact shoe 6 designed to engage the rail 5 and supported in the manner specifically described in the above-mentioned patent. The main air line for supplying air to the brakes of the locomotive and attached train is indicated by the numeral 7 and provided with a normally closed valve 8 which is automatically opened by the energization of an electro-magnet device conventionally shown at 9, whichis energized in a manner which will presently appear. Suitably mounted in the locomotive is a cylinder 10 in which is longitudinally movable a circuit closer 11 in the form of a plunger and including a contact 12 which cooperates with contacts 13, 1 1 and 15 carried by the cylinder. The circuit closer is normally maintained in the upper end of the cylinder by a mechanism which includes the fan 16 driven from one of the wheels of the locomotive in the manner set forth in the above patent and which is operable to create a blast of air in the pipe 17 connected to the cylinder, the passage of air through said pipe being controlled bya valve 18; Thus when the valve 18 is opened and the locomotive is running at a normal rate of speed which will cause the fan 16 to create a blast of air sufficient to maintain the circuit closer 11 in its elevated position, the contact 12 will engage the contacts 13 and 15-. However, if the locomotive is stopped, or the speed thereof decreased, so that the fan 16 will no longer create a blast ofair suificient to mai t in the closer 1.1 its elevated position, the same will move downwardly in the cylinder 10 until the contact 12 bridges the contacts 14 and 15. When this occurs a circuit is closed from the positive pole of a bat tery 19, through a switch 20, which may be utilized to open the circuit whenever desired, contacts 14, 12 and 15, the lamp 21 or other indicating device and from thence through the shoe 6 to the contact rail 5 thus placing a potential upon the section of the rail with which said shoe is in contact. Should a following locomotive then engage its shoe with the section of the rail which has been energized a circuit will be established from the rail through the shoe of the following locomotive, the indicating lamp 21, contacts 15, 12 and 13, the electro-magnet 9 and from thence to the negative pole of the battery 19. The closing of this circuit will energize the electro-magnet in the following locomotive opening the valve 8 and thereby causing an automatic application of the brakes in said following locomotive. operation so, far described is identical with that disclosed in my patent above mentioned.

Means are provided in the present inven tion for accomplishing an automatic applis cation of the brakes in the locomotive should the fan 16 thereof become inoperative to perform its function while the locomotive is running at a normal rate of speed. This means preferably comprises a switching device 22 including a casing having contacts 28 arranged on opposite sides thereof and a contact 24 in said casing movable longitudinally thereof and also rotatable with respect to the contacts 28 so as to be disengaged therefrom whenever desired. The contact 24normally engages the contacts 23 so as to bridge the portion of the circuit including the conductors connected to the contacts 13 and 15. Thus with this switching device in the circuit should the fan 16 cease to operate while the locomotive is running the circuit closer 11 will move downwardly in the cylinder until the contacts 14 and 15 are bridged by the contact 12 whereupon a circuit will be established from the positive pole of battery 19 through the contacts 14, 12 and 15, the contacts 23 and 24 and from thence through the electro-magnet 9 to the negative pole of battery whereupon said electro-magnet will be energized and the brakes applied. At the same time the positive pole of battery will be connected to the contact rail through the shoe 6 and lamp 21, but if the rail 5 is not energized at this time the lamp 21 will not be lighted. The engineer upon observing that this lamp is not lighted will know that his train has not been stopped due to the energization'of the rail 5 by a preceding train. Through this knowledge his attention will be directed. to the fan 16; Should the engineer desire The structure and to release the brakes before leaving the cab to make an investigation this may be done by giving the contact 24 a slight rotation to disengage the same from the contacts 23 so that the circuit for the electro-magnet 9 1s per- 'ma'nently opened. 'This circuit may also be opened by moving the contact 24 longitudinally of the casing 22. If desired, this c1rcuit including said contacts 23 and 24 may be opened when making a service application of the brakes, such as when bringing the train to a gradual stop. In this'manner the operation of the clectro-magnet 9 may be avoided when the speed of the train has decreased to such an extent that the fan 16' will no longer create a suiiicient blast of air to maintain the circuit closer 11 in its elevated position.

In the event that the fan 16 cannot at least be temporarily repaired, should it cease to operate, provision is made for maintaining the circuit closer 11 in operative condition. To this end a by-pass pipe 25 is connected at one end to the cylinder 10 and at its other end to the main air pipe and is provided therein with a normally closed valve 26 which may now be opened to admit air into the cylinder 10 from the pipe 7 to maintain the circuit closer 11 in its elevated position, thus keeping the contacts 12, 13 and 15 in engagement so that the circuit for the electro-magnet 9 may be closed should the rail 5 be energized by a preceding locomotive. With the valve 26 opened the valve 18 should be closed to prevent the escape of air pressure through the pipe 17 ,VVhen' the valve 26 is openedit is incumbent upon the engineer to close said valve should he bring his train to a stop so that the circuit closer will move downwardly in the cylinder 10 to bring the contacts 14 and 15 into engagement and thus connect the battery to the rail 5.

, What is claimed is:

1. In a train control system, the combination with a'contact rail and a valve for controlling the operation of air brakes, of means carried by each train engaging said contact rail, means normally disconnected from the last-named means for energizing said rail, a normally inoperative circuit closing device operable when the movement of the train is decreased below a certain speed to electrically connect the first and second named means, means operated by the train when running above said certain speed for maintaining said circuit closing device in its inoperative position and permitting said device to operate when the train is running below said speed, means including an electro-magnet for operating said air brake valve, and aswitching device rendered eifective by the operation of said circuit closing device for energizing said electro-magnet.

2. In a train control system, the combina tion with a contact rail and a valve for controlling the operation of air brakes; of means carried by each train engaging said contact rail, means normally disconnected from the last-named means for energizing said rail, a normally inoperative circuit closing device operable when the movement of the train is decreased below a certain speed to electrically connect the first and second named means, means operated by the train when running above said certain speed for maintaining said circuit closing device in its inoperative position and permitting said device to operate when the train is running below said speed, means including an clectro-magnet for operating said air brake valve, and a manually controlled switching device normally inserted with said electromagnet for energizing the same when said circuit closing device is operated, said switching device being capable of disconnection from said electro-magnet independent of the position of said circuit closing device.

3. In a train control system, the combination with a contact rail and a main air brake line; of a normally inoperative circuit closing device operable to energize said contact rail when the movement of a train is decreased below a certain speed, means operated by the train when running above said speed for maintaining said device in its inoperative position, and means operable when the last-named means ceases to operate while the train is running at the latter speed to open said air brake line to apply the brakes.

4-. In a train control system, the combination with a contact rail and a main air brake line; of a normally inoperative circuit clos ing device operable to energize said contact rail when the movement of a train is decreased below a certain speed, means operated by the train when running above said speed for maintaining said device in its inoperative position, and means operable in dependently of said circuit closing device when the last-named means ceases to operate while the train is running at the latter speed to open said air brake line to apply the brakes.

5. In a train control system, the combination with a contact rail and a main air brake line; of anormally inoperative circuit closing device operable to energize said contact rail when the movement of a train is decreased below a certain speed, means operated by the train when running above said speed for maintaining said device in its inoperative position, and means in circuit with said contact rail for causing application of the brakes through said air line irrespective of the position of said circuit closing device.

6. In a train control system, the combination with a contact rail and a main air brake line; of a normally inoperative circuit closing device operable to energize said contact rail when the movement of a train is decreased below a certain speed, means operated by the train when running above said speed for maintaining said device in its inoperative position, and means connecting said air line with said circuit closing device to maintain the latter in inoperative position should the last-named means cease to operate while the train is running at the latter speed.

7. In a train control system, the combination with a contact rail and a main air brake line; of a normally inoperative circuit closing device operable to energize said contact rail when the movement of a train is decreased below a certain speed, means operated by the train when running above said speed for maintaining said device in its inoperative position, and a bypass pipe connecting said main line with said circuit closing device to maintain the latter in inoperative position should the last-named means cease to operate while the train is running at the latter speed.

MICHAEL K. HEALY. 

